


Not Long After

by kaydonovan



Category: People Like Us - Dana Mele
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Slow Burn, mentions of death but in the past
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:41:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25883782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaydonovan/pseuds/kaydonovan
Summary: Brie pulls Kay out of the lake. Together they work through the events of the semester.
Relationships: Brie Matthews/Justine Baker, Kay Donovan/Brie Matthews, Kay Donovan/Spencer Morrow
Kudos: 1





	Not Long After

**Author's Note:**

> Contains spoilers for People Like Us by Dana Mele. Set immediately following the end of the book.

“I don’t feel cold anymore. I take a deep breath, prepare for a long submersion, and plunge into oblivion.”

My head breaks the water and I hear Brie scream. She splashes into the lake, her eyes wide with fear, and hauls me up onto the bank. She snatches up my coat—the Tranquility coat—and wraps it tightly around me. Silhouetted in the gray moonlight, she stands panting, her clothes heavy with icy water.

I sit shivering and take gasping breaths of the frigid air. I can’t bring myself to be angry or embarrassed or sad. I’ve spent the semester feeling too much. More than I’ve let myself feel in a long time.

“Let’s go,” Brie finally mutters. She gathers my clothes from the frozen ground and grabs my hand. Her skin burns against mine. She pulls me to my feet a little hard, and I stumble. “Sorry.”

We walk in silence toward the empty campus. Brie guides us to her dorm and steers me through the door and up the stairs. She unlocks her door and closes it swiftly behind us. I stand in the middle of the room, feeling awkward, while Brie searches for pajamas for me to wear. I notice she’s wearing a sweater I don’t recognize. I’m struck by how far apart we’ve grown apart this semester.

I pull on Brie’s pajamas, and when I turn around she’s sitting on her bed watching me expectantly. The soft glow of her lamp reaches the edges of the bed, but not much further.

“We’ll start with what’s pressing,” she says, motioning for me to join her on the bed. I climb into the light and sit cross-legged facing her. “Why were you in the lake?”

“Why were you at the lake?” I shoot back, more harshly than I intended.

She shrugs. “I was trying to remember that night exactly how it happened.”

We both know which night. The night we found Jessica dead in the lake. 

“I was trying to figure out if there was something I overlooked. Something that could have led us to Nola sooner.” She looks up, her eyes meeting mine and softening. “Did you go the police?”

I explain how I questioned Nola about Jessica’s death and how she attacked me. I had recorded Nola’s confession (with the microphone she gave me herself) and had given the tape to the police. After giving my statement, I had texted Brie and Spencer something vague and wandered off toward the lake. I had also called Nola’s parents, who explained that Nola _was_ Bianca, and had changed her name when she came to Bates.

“Do you think you’ll go visit?” Brie asks me.

“I don’t know.” I hesitate. “I feel like I should, but I don’t know if I can.”

Brie chews on her lip. “Are you upset that Nola’s going to jail? Was there actually something between you?”

I feel slightly sick at the thought of kissing Nola. “We made out a few times. Her mom caught us while we were at Tranquility.” Tranquility is Nola’s parents’ mansion. Even by Bates standards, Nola is filthy rich. “I’m upset that she’s going to jail. But I know it’s what’s best.” My throat constricts when I think of Todd. Of what might have happened if he was safe in jail.

Brie reaches out and holds my hand carefully. “I’m so sorry Nola picked you to enact her revenge on. It could have been any of us.”

I tear my gaze away from our hands and look up at Brie. “It was always going to be me. Nola was Dear Valentine.”

Brie’s mouth falls open. “I thought Jessica was Dear Valentine?”

I shake my head. “That’s just what Nola told me to make it seem like Jessica had a reason to get revenge.”

Brie sighs and holds her hand against my forehead. “How are you feeling? I think we better take you to student health tomorrow to make sure you aren’t getting pneumonia. And that dive in the lake couldn’t have helped things.”

I nod, and Brie gets up to brush her teeth. She comes back and crawls into bed with me and is asleep almost instantly. For once, I fall not long after.


End file.
